WHY DID OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ALLOW JOHN THE BAPTIST TO BAPTIZE HIM?

Did you remember the story of Jesus going to Jordan River to be baptized of John. Ever wondered why he allowed John the Baptist to baptize him knowing that He is greater than John? John was reluctant to baptize him at first however Jesus told him to go ahead in order to fulfill all righteousness. Let's read the account in Matthew.

Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Mat 3:14 But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

From the above conversation, we could deduce that the reason why our Lord Jesus allow John to baptize him was so that they would fulfill all righteousness. Several Writers/Preachers have however speculated on what Jesus meant by that statement "for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness". They tried to provide answers to the question, "What are those righteousness that they needed to fulfill?"

Here is one of the answers provided by a notable writer/preacher:

Jesus was baptized by John purposely to be made the world’s scapegoat. The scapegoat is a lamb chosen by God to transfer unto it the sins of the Israelites by the High Priest to take them away into the wilderness (Lev 16:10, 20-22).

John the Baptist was sent from God (John 1:6) through the priesthood family (Luke 1:5-13); made to be greater than all the high priests who had the divine right to transfer the sins of God’s people unto the lamb. John baptized Jesus by transferring the depth of sin of the world cause by Adam and Eve into Jesus’account to pay for it at the appointed time. It is written, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). Immediately Jesus came out of the water after baptism, he was carried away into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:9-13) as the scapegoat was accustomed to.

Another writer wrote that:

John the Baptist was called to minister in the wilderness and baptize at the Jordan River because he was to prepare the way for the transfer of the priesthood from the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek. He was to introduce the new high priest, Jesus Christ and symbolically transfer priesthood of Aaron to Jesus Christ after the order of Melchizedek! 

A look at the similarities between the consecration of a priest of Aaron in the Old Testament to the consecration of Jesus Christ at his baptism in the transfer of the priesthood from the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek shows that both undergo same process. In the Torah, a priest had to undergo two things:

1.   be washed with water.

2.   be anointed with oil.

3.   Lev 8:6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

Lev 8:10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.

Lev 8:12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

We find this same thing happening to Jesus at his baptism: first, he is submerged in water by a legitimate priest, John the Baptist, and as he came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit of anointing came down in the form of a dove and landed on him:

Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

At this point, Jesus Christ was set apart and anointed at the beginning of his ministry, and for the next 3.5 years, preached to, taught, and healed the people who believed in that ministry.

Conclusion

Though the views of the two Writers were not the same, the baptism of Jesus fulfilled the two requirements as well as all other righteousness.